Bikes of Unbound Gravel: Lauren De Crescenzo’s race-winning Colnago G3-X
Two flat tyres didn’t stop American Lauren De Crescenzo from winning the women’s Unbound Gravel 200-mile (320 km) race. Coming from a road racing background (and a one-time holder of the women’s Everesting world record), De Crescenzo took the lead with 55 miles (89 km) to go and eventually built up a 16-minute gap over second-place finisher (and 2019 winner) Amity Rockwell (follow the link to see the bike Rockwell rode).
A member of the Cinch Elite cycling team, De Crescenzo rode a Colnago G3-X gravel bike for the event. Below is her bike, photographed after spending 12:06:49 on the Kansas gravel course.
Released in 2019, the Colnago G3-X shares a number of features with Colnago’s V3-Rs and C64 road bikes. These include the use of Colnago’s own ThreadFit82.5 bottom bracket system and a headset that features an elastomer polymer cup in an effort to reduce front end vibration. 
De Crescenzo has previously competed at the road time trial world championships and so the clip-on aerobars are a somewhat expected sight. The extensions are the Zipp Vuka Evo fitted with SRAM “Clics” eTap shifters at the end.
Number plates must be mounted to the front of the handlebars. A little bending is a common approach. 
Wheels are the All Road / Gravel model from Knight Composite. These carbon hoops feature a 22.5 mm internal rim width and a tubeless-only hookless bead. 
Knight Composites is a sponsor of the Cinch Elite team. The wheels are offered with a choice of hubs, but De Crescenzo was rolling with the company’s own Cascade hub. 
Maxxis Rambler tyres in a 40 mm width were De Crescenzo’s choice. These shallow-treaded tyres are a popular pick. 
The Colnago G3-X has a quoted 700 x 42 mm maximum tyre clearance. 
Where a number of De Crescenzo’s competitors used 1x drivetrains, the eventual winner chose a slightly more road-going 2x setup in the form of a full SRAM Force AXS eTap group. 
A SRAM/Quarq power meter and fairly large (for gravel) 48/35T chainrings. 
At the back is a 10-33T cassette. 
Beep boop. 
Arundel Dave-O cages. In our experience, these are one of the most secure cages on the market. 
The G3-X uses Colnago’s own D-shaped aero seatpost with an integrated binder. It’s extremely similar to that found in the V3-Rs road bike. 
Yet another Specialized Power saddle. It really is impressive to see just how many in the women’s field use the same saddle. 
Matchy matchy Supacaz bartape. 
Based on the frameset price (US$2,900 / AU$3,800), the G3-X is somewhat of a mid-tier carbon frame for Colnago. All the features are there, but it’s almost certainly using a lower-grade carbon layup compared to Colnago’s pro-level road frames. 
The stem is Zipp’s entry-level Service Course model. The bike is by no means entry-level, but it’s also far from a price-no-object watt- and gram-counting machine that you’d expect to see first across the line.
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